Saturday, October 27, 2012

Terri L. Austin on Waitresses in Diners, Nerds Who Speak Klingon, and Movies So Bad That They're Good

Thanks for chatting, Terri.Your book
is called DINERS, DIVES and DEAD ENDS.So what came first, the title or the idea for the mystery?

First
of all, thanks for having me on your blog, Julia! It’s a pleasure to be here.

The
book came first. My editor and I cooked up the title. Originally, I had
something different in mind, but I think Diners, Dives and DeadEnds sums up the
novel pretty well.

Your
heroine, Rose Strickland, works at a diner and has a sassy attitude.Were you at allinspired by the tv show Alice?

No,
but that’s a great show! I made Rose a waitress because I wanted her to be a
bit of an underdog who is struggling to make ends meet. Also, working at a
diner that is only open for breakfast gives her flexibility to solve mysteries
in her spare time!

Your
characters have great names.Ax
Graystone is one of my favorites.Do you spend a lot of time thinking of them, or do they just pop
into your head?

Sometimes
they suddenly come to me, but most of the time I give names a lot of thought. Names
are important, giving the audience insight into the character’s standing,
background, and place in life. But then I like turning those notions upside
down. Ax was fun to play with. He has this very unusual name, Axton
Graystone—an old family name—but he doesn’t live up to his family’s
expectations at all. Rosalyn Strickland is a very proper, straight-laced name.
But she insists on being called Rose and is anything but demure.

True ! You reference a lot of movies in the book, and in your author comments you say
that you love watching “really bad movies.”What makes bad movies good?Do you and Rose Strickland share this
feeling?

I
think Rose is stuck watching bad sci-fi movies with Ax. She wouldn’t go out of
her way to watch a bad movie on her own. Me? I love nothing better than a cheesy
movie. I just watched Surf Party the
other day, with Bobby Vinton. It was awful, but awesomely so. The bad acting,
the silly plot, the horrible, faux beach songs. I couldn’t get enough. I’m
weird like that. Give me an MST3K movie and a bowl of popcorn, and I’m pretty
happy.

MST3K is the greatest! Are there
any other attitudes or ideas that you share with your heroine?

Some
Rose-isms might pop out of my mouth from time to time. But my attitude is
probably more in line with Roxy. She’s blunt, snarky, and doesn’t have much of
a filter from her brain to her mouth.

Have you
ever worked at a diner?

No,
but I’ve eaten in a lot of them! When I go to my local diner, I watch the
waitresses hustle to help customers. The way they whip those huge trays around
is like choreography. I don’t think I’m coordinated enough to do that without
breaking a lot of plates. I’m not sure I’d make it after the first shift.

It certainly is an undersung profession. Rose is
fairly young, as heroines go.What
made you decide on a 24-year-old narrator?

I
wanted Rose to have been away from her parents for a few years, but not too
many. This way I could show the reader what her life is like. This isn’t a
trial run for Rose, this is her reality. And she’s stuck. She’s been on her own
for five years, and she still isn’t sure about her future or her education. The
mid-twenties are a time of self-discovery. Rose is a conflicted character who
is still trying to find herself.

You have a lot of
strong women in this novel.Did you
create them consciously, or is it just instinctive for you to write women smart
and sassy?

I
like smart, sassy women, so I guess it comes naturally to me. I love snappy
dialogue and creating distinctive characters. To me, Rose, Roxy, and even Ma
are women flying solo and making their own way in the world.

Rose is
twenty-four, and since her lawyer friend Dane was in her eighth grade
class, that makes him twenty-four, too.Can you already be an experienced lawyer at twenty-four years old?

I
don’t consider Dane to be experienced. He has a foot in the door with a good
firm and he’s been blessed with family connections. Now he’s out to prove he’s
up to the task. He’s definitely a contrast to Rose. Dane knows what he wants
and he’s determined to achieve it. Rose is floundering, unsure of what her next
step should be. I like the dichotomy between the two characters.

Whenever
Rose mentions the flapjacks at her diner, I want to eat pancakes.Did you ever consider doing a signing at
a diner?

I
would love to do a signing at a diner! Just the smell of coffee makes me swoon.
Add the smoky smell of bacon, and I’d be in heaven.

Ax is a
real sci-fi nerd, loving everything from Star Wars to comic books.Do you have an Ax in

your own life?

My
husband is an engineer and loves sci-fi movies, so I guess I drew a little
inspiration from him. But Axton takes it to a whole different level. He’s
fluent in Klingon, he owns action figures, and he collects graphic novels.
Axton lives in his own little world and I enjoy that about him.

You mention
in your acknowledgements that your husband Jeff made dinner while you
wrote.My husband Jeff is also the
dinner maker in the family.What
would we do without our Jeffs?

Go
hungry! My Jeff has been a rock and my biggest champion. We’ve been married for
23 wonderful years and I’d be lost without him. And he makes omelets that rock
my morning.

So wonderful! Will there
be more novels in the Rose Strickland series?

The
second Rose mystery, Last Diner Standing, is coming out December 3rd.
I’m very excited about it. Ma is on a rampage with a rival diner. We get to see
more of the quirky characters that inhabit Rose’s world and quite a bit more of
Rose’s bad guy crush. And it’s a Christmas mystery, which was a ton of fun to
write.

That sounds great! Thanks for talking with me, Terri, and good luck
with the book!

Thanks for having me, Julia! It was fun.

More about Terri's book:

Diners, Dives and Dead Ends

A Rose Strickland Mystery

By Terri L. Austin

978-1938383007

Henery Press

As a struggling waitress and part-time college
student, Rose Strickland’s life is stalled in the slow lane. But when her close
friend, Axton, disappears, Rose suddenly finds herself serving up more than hot
coffee and flapjacks. Now she’s hashing it out with sexy bad guys and
scrambling to find clues in a race to save Axton before his time runs out.

With her anime-loving bestie, her septuagenarian
boss, and pair of IT wise men along for the ride, Rose discovers political
corruption, illegal gambling, and shady corporations. She’s gone from zero to
sixty and quickly learns when you’re speeding down the fast lane, it’s easy to
crash and burn.

Terri L. Austin lives in Missouri with her funny,
handsome husband and a high maintenance peekapoo. She loves to hear from readers. Find her on Twitter, FB, TerriLAustin.com, Goodreads
and Henery Press. She and her writer
friends have a book chat every Wednesday on Little Read Hens.
Check it out and join in the conversation!

Great interview Terri & Julia! I am such a fan of Terri's books. They are so witty & the mysteries really keep me guessing. Plus she writes hunky bad boy characters so well. I'll admit I have a fictional crush on Sullivan.